Step Garnish for Vehicle Door Opening Sealing and Appearance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing techniques for covering the lower edge of a vehicle door opening with a step garnish fail to enhance both the sealing performance and outer appearance, particularly where a side sill has a joint section formed by lapped-over plate materials, leading to visibility issues and compromised sealing.
Innovation Solution
An integrally-molded step garnish is provided, comprising a hard resin garnish body and a soft resin end section, which covers the joint section and seal contact area, with a gradually decreasing thickness to ensure seamless contact and conceal the joint, enhancing both appearance and sealing efficacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a joint section is formed by lapping plate materials on the side sill, then weight is reduced and quality is enhanced, but the joint section adversely influences sealing performance and outer appearance
Solution Approach 1:
A seal member is introduced as an intermediary element between the door and the side sill joint section. This seal member extends continuously over the joint section, bridging the gap caused by the stepped joint and maintaining sealing effectiveness despite the discontinuous underlying structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal member is designed as a flexible continuous film that can conform to the stepped joint section geometry. This flexibility allows the seal to maintain continuous contact with both the door and the side sill across the joint, preventing water and air infiltration while accommodating the structural discontinuity.
2Strength
If a joint section is formed by lapping plate materials on the side sill, then weight is reduced and quality is enhanced, but the joint section is undesirably visible from outside
Solution Approach 1:
A decorative resin cover serves as a visual intermediary that conceals the joint section. This cover is applied over the step plate and joint area, creating a continuous aesthetic surface that hides the stepped joint structure from external view while allowing the underlying weight-reducing joint construction to remain intact.
Solution Approach 2:
The decorative resin cover is designed with color and finish properties that match the surrounding body panels. This visual blending makes the joint section and step plate imperceptible from the outside, creating a seamless appearance that conceals the structural joint while maintaining the weight-reducing benefits.
3Reliability
If a seal member is provided on the peripheral edge of the vehicle door, then sealing is achieved, but the joint section on the side sill adversely influences the sealing performance
Solution Approach 1:
The seal member is designed with dynamic flexibility, allowing it to adapt its shape to the stepped joint section geometry. This dynamic capability enables the seal to maintain continuous contact pressure across the joint area, compensating for the geometric discontinuity and ensuring effective sealing despite the underlying structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal member's physical parameters (such as cross-sectional shape, material hardness, and thickness) are specifically designed to accommodate the joint section geometry. By optimizing these parameters, the seal can effectively bridge the stepped joint and maintain sealing performance that would otherwise be compromised by the joint's geometric discontinuity.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle body includes a side sill connected by overlapping a plurality of plates. In an area of the side sill positioned in a door opening, a step garnish covers at least a portion of such area. The step garnish is formed of a hard resin garnish main body and a soft resin garnish end part. The garnish main body covers from the upper surface of the side sill through a lateral surface that includes a sealing contact part. The garnish end part is integrally formed with an end of the garnish main body, and covers at least the sealing contact part. The thickness of the garnish end part gradually decreases from a proximal end formed integrally with the garnish main body towards the distal end. Such arrangement improves appearance of the door opening and sealing characteristics of the area surrounding the door opening.